Cape Town – Four brothers are among eight suspects who were arrested, as police investigated tender fraud and corruption in the construction sector within the City of Cape Town.
The brothers allegedly defrauded the City with the help of two City officials into paying their company R2.5 million for work they did not do, reports said.
Eight suspects appeared at the Cape Town magistrate’s court on Thursday on fraud and corruption charges, said police spokesperson, Brigadier Novela Potelwa in a statement.
“The staggering arrests which started from early morning on Thursday at various locations in Cape Town are the culmination of protracted investigations into complaints of fraud and corruption that entails the inflation of invoices, irregular payments of service providers for construction work not undertaken and other illicit activities,” said Potelwa.
Potelwa added that more arrests were expected as the investigations continue.
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Ilitha Painters and Decorators, represented by Asif Khan, Uwais Khan, Irfaan Khan, Craig Kannemeyer, and Abdullatief Abrahams, and city officials Adam Majiet and Alistair Stanbul allegedly “misrepresented to the city that certain work was done, TimesLIVE reported.
The City’s officials allegedly allowed the invoices to be paid although they knew that the work was not done.
A warrant of arrest indicated that the alleged crime was committed on January 1, 2019, the publication reported.
Advocate Reuben Liddell, representing the accused said his clients were aware of the investigation, as there were three search-and-seizure operations conducted at their client’s businesses in March 2021.
The Khan brothers were released on R50 000 bail and R10 000 bail for the rest of the accused, the report said.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
